BEFORE MY EYES
by zanna efron
Summary: we've been best friends for as long as any of us can remember. we've been there for each other, and after surviving our first year of college together we thought it'd be a breeze. how wrong we found out we were." eventually T&G, Z&S, J&K, C&T, R&OC.
1. IT'S MY LIFE

This ain't a song for the broken-hearted  
No silent prayer for the faith-departed  
I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd  
You're gonna hear my voice  
When I shout it out loud  
It's my life

**IT'S MY LIFE –** BON JOVI

**Prologue: It's My Life**

Hi, I'm Gabriella I guess. No, I mean my name is Gabriella, Gabriella Montez to be exact, but what I was going for was I'm guess if you care or whatever. My story is pretty simple and a bit plain if you ask me, but my best friend Sharpay insisted that I write it down in story form, whatever. I've also been told by Shar that I say whatever too much; actually Taylor told me that to, but whatever. God, there I go again.

Let's start from the beginning shall I? Or I'll just give you a quick back ground story. I had a pretty picture perfect family for four years when my father passed away from cancer, so I don't really remember him. That's okay though. I mean I love him, but I didn't really know him. I can't even really remember him, which does actually make me sad when mom talks about him. My mother remarried when I was eight to Hunter Cross, and that is how I got my step brother, Jason. He's a…character, but more about him later.

So, the "gang" spent their first five years growing up in Albuquerque without me, and that is when we moved there…duh. After that we spent the rest of our years growing up together. We are the closest I think any friends could be, god I sound like a girl. I mean, damn it you know what I mean. I might as well warn you about the gang while I'm at it. We'll start with Sharpay, just because she'd kill me if I didn't start with her.

"FABULOUS!"

Sharpay Evans is the blonde of the group, not to mention the drama queen of the group. Trust me when I say you don't want me to go into detail, but I will. Sharpay is always trying to do things over board, not to mention she likes things big and pink. I've grown to hate pink because of her. I hate to say it but the Ice Queen is the perfect. You mess with her, believe me when I say it's the last thing you'll ever do.

"And I'm the queen of England."

Taylor McKessie is more of a friend to me than Shar, but don't tell her that. Tay is quite the firecracker too, and the brain of the bunch not to mention the queen of sarcasm. She is extremely loyal. The kind of friend that won't think twice for standing up for you or doing what she thinks is best. The thing we two share is our stubborn nature. It's hard when she thinks she right , and won't listen to me when we know I'm the one that is right.

"But it's lunch time!"

Chad Danforth, the goof ball of the group. I love being around Chad, because he is just so freaking hilarious. He is always freaking hungry too. How Taylor puts up with him I'll never know. OH RIGHT! He and Tay have been dating since junior year of high school. Oh, and he's a good drummer. But no matter how much of a goof ball he is, Chad is a great friend and an even better listener.

"So, how was work?"

Ah, my oh so loving step brother Jason Cross. This guy…I love him, but sometimes he is just so clueless. He's a sweet heart though not to mention an annoyingly over protective big brother, and a rocking base player. It might take him a minute to catch on, but when he gets it he's always there. Sometimes I don't think I would have made it all these years without him.

"I made creme brulee!"

Zeke Baylor is like the best cook in the world. I am not even kidding. How a boy that good at cooking and as nice as he is could fall head over hills in love with Shar I'll never know, but those two have been dating on and off for four years. He is so smitten it's sickening. I really don't know what to do with him sometimes. I have to remind him that he is his own person.

"I..I..I mean if you want to."

Little Kelsi Neilson is just cutest thing ever. She's the shy one of the bunch, but you can't help but adore her! She is one of the most amazing composers ever. She is always writing something or another. When we were little she was always the one that would sneak off and hide away from the world. Surprisingly she's doing a lot better even though she isn't a fan of the party scene like the rest of us. Kelsi is one to keep us in line when we all get drunk off our asses or something like that.

"Psht. I make the best pb and j's!"

Troy Bolton, or should I say the Golden Boy, he is the starting forward on the basketball team, and tends to be a little over confident. Okay, so he's got an ego the size of a planet, but if you get close enough you see the sweet caring side of him. Not to make his ego any bigger, but he's the SHIT when it comes to guitar players. Oh yeah, and he can sing…even though he doesn't like to in front of a crowd. He's the leader of our little group really.

"Why can't we all just calm down?"

Ryan Evans, sigh, is just the nicest guy. He is always looking out for others, and he lets his twin sister (Sharpay, oh yeah…her) run over him. He really is just such a loveable guy. He's also just an awesome piano and keyboard player, and singer to. I guess the other thing you should know about him is that he has been my boyfriend since freshman year of college.

"SHUT UP! The game's on."

And then there's me, Gabriella Montez. I'm the crazy tom boy of the bunch. I like to cuss more than I should, and then I would rather watch basketball than a soap opera. However, you give me a musical and I'll drop everything I'm doing to see it. I suppose I'm a good singer, that's what everyone tells me anyway. I'm stubborn as hell and proud of it, damn it.

The nine of us live together in a giant house that Ryan and Sharpay's parents gave us to live in about fifteen minutes from UCLA where we all are attending for college. Let me tell you, having nine in a house isn't easy no matter how big the house is or how close the nine of us are…because there are always extras. It always seems the extra's are the problems, aka troy's many girlfriends.

However, the one thing that all of us can count on is LuCKY UNDERWEAR. What is LuCKY UNDERWEAR you ask? Well that is our band. I know I know, dorky and clichéd right? Right, but we've been together as a band for three years now and it's been awesome. Chad is of course our drummer, Jason our base player, Troy is our guitarist, Ryan plays our keyboard, and I am our lead singer. Sharpay is our "image consultant" because we apparently need our own look. Taylor is our manager alongside Zeke who works as our publicist. You can't get any better than these two. Kelsi is our TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY AMAZING composer. She has written us so many songs that are just amazing it's crazy. She was always trying to get me help write them, because she thought I could. Of course I'll never forget my first song, but you'll hear about that during the story.

Back to the basic's I guess, my story starts when we're students at UCLA and are majoring in everything from business to neurology to theater, and we're all sophomores, but Tay is about four hours from being a junior. It's rather annoying having a smarty pants around…until she embarrasses Chad then it's all good.

To sum it up I love these guys more than life itself.

So let's jump right into the story shall we?

It all starts on the day Troy brings home Whitney Tillman, the girl I'd learn to hate.

Sneaky bitch.

**Note: I'm not forgetting about starlight kisses, but i need something else to keep my muse going. i'll be updating starlight kisses soon. I'm actually writing a novel but with different charries and I thought it was perfect for a HSM fanfiction. Of course there will be differences. Anyway I don't own HSM (or zac sadly) and i don't own IT'S MY LIFE. Let me know what you think of this one! Love you guys!**


	2. GLAMOROUS

I don't care, I'm still real  
No matter how many records I sell  
After the show or after the Grammys  
I like to go cool out with the family  
Sippin', reminiscing on days when I had a Mustang

**GLAMOROUS -- **FERGIE

**Chapter 1: Glamorous**

It was a normal Friday afternoon really. I was up in my room on the second floor watching CSI: Miami, a favorite of mine though I doubt you care. I knew that my brother, Zeke, and Chad were playing basketball on the court the Evans had put in for us, and I knew it because I could hear the rhythmic bouncing of the ball outside my window. And as far as the others went, I could only guess, but I do pride myself in being a very good guesser. I heard the door open and close, and with the ball still bouncing outside, I figured it was someone else...most likely Troy back from his accounting class. That's right, golden Troy boy was the one getting a business degree, but he keeps reassuring us it's just a fall back. Somehow, I just don't see Troy sitting in a stuffy old office.

I was getting hungry anyway, so I started my decent downstairs, and sure enough there was Troy sucking face with his newest blonde bimbo. Why he always went for blondes I'll never know. Sharpay was positive that it was his way of showing her that he wanted to be with her instead of Zeke being with her, but the rest of us know that is just Sharpay's hopeful nature.

The truth is Sharpay had been trying to date Troy since they were like thirteen, but Troy kept telling her to him that was like incest. She didn't listen. I don't think she ever listens. Even though she says that though, we all know how much she really loves Zeke.

Unable to hold back my teasing nature, I start making kissy faces at them as I made my way downstairs. I didn't hold back my laugh when Troy broke the kiss to glare at me. Instead I continued on my way to find Taylor perched on the kitchen table with about six books surrounding her and her laptop.

"Having fun?" I inquired as I grabbed an apple out of the refrigerator, and plopped myself beside her.

She gave me that famous, 'I know you're kidding but seriously' look of Tay's. "Oh yeah, I'm having a blast. You know how I live for studying for a test that could very well screw over my high educational path."

"Geez, sorry Tay. It isn't my fault you picked a crazy hard major, Troy isn't having any trouble with business, but you go and double major in business and pre-nursing," I pointed out to her. Aren't I a ray of sunshine? "I'm just saying..."

"Go suck face with your boyfriend," Taylor spat, but I know she just wants to pass. Being here on a full ride academic scholarship couldn't be easy. Not that I'd know or anything, but Taylor 

has been stressed a lot more lately because of it. Still, we all love her and remind her to have fun once in a while. That's what friends are for.

I just smile getting up and leaving her to her work, but not before getting the last say, "I would but he's sucking face with some other girl."

I love Ryan. I really do, which I think is why him being a musical theater major and kissing other girls on stage all the time doesn't bother me. I know at the end of the day he'll always come back to me. Plus, he always does things to remind me I'm his and not those other girls. I do enjoy the presents and dinners and romantic gestures I must say.

Peaking out the window on the lower level, I see the boys are still outside playing basketball which leaves me to annoy Troy some more. Oh, it is my lucky day. Starting back upstairs, I take another bite out of my apple only to almost spit it out when I see that Troy and the blonde have moved onto the couch, and she's already gotten his shirt off.

Now, growing up with mostly guys' as best friends, I'm used to seeing them half naked or walking in on them completely naked. However, me and Troy have...issues when it came to incidents like this. I don't want to talk about it like that. But I will tell you this. Despite the fact Troy is one of my best friends, I'll admit he is smoking hot! Any girl would be stupid to tell him no. Those abs, that hair, but what kills every girl (including myself but shhh) are those gorgeous blue eyes that draw you in from miles away.

"You know," I pondered aloud after I successfully digested my bite of apple, "I don't think Sharpay would like you fucking on her favorite pink couch Troy boy."

The grin that crossed my lips was to be expected when I heard him groan and roll off the girl. The next thing I saw was a, still shirtless, annoyed looking Troy Bolton glaring at me. "Can't you mind your own business Montez?"

"Nope."

I watched as Troy rolled his eyes and helped the blonde up who immediately straightened her clothes and her hair. Turning she smiled at me a little smile I would learn later on, that is faker than plastic surgery. "Um hi."

Already I could tell there was something off about her, but then again I was never one to judge someone immediately. I don't like being judged so I try not to judge others, but hey, I'm human too. "Hi," I say walking over and extending my hand, "I'm Gabriella. Gabriella Montez."

"Oh right," Troy said realizing he hadn't actually introduced me to his new girlfriend. How do I know already he calls her girlfriend? Because he wouldn't have brought her here otherwise. Usually he goes to their place, unless they have earned the title of Troy Bolton's girlfriend. "This is Whitney Tillman. She's studying to be a physical therapist...right?"

"That's right," she assures him as she shakes my hand. "It's nice to meet you Gabriella."

"We'll see," I say, and I can almost hear Troy rolling his eyes. "First I need to ask you three questions." She looks a little out of place, but they usually are. Over the years I've picked up a bit of bluntness from Shar, so it's really to be expected. "What's your favorite sport."

"Basketball of course."

"Favorite team?"

"LA Lakers."

"Favorite musical?"

"Uh...Phantom of the Opera, I guess."

I looked at Troy raising my eyebrows and shrugging my shoulders commenting, "fifty fifty," before continuing back to her room. I could almost see Whitney or whatever looking at Troy with a strange look on her face, and then I heard Troy speak up, "the right answer was Hairspray."

So I do read a book by the cover a little bit. The questions weren't about whether I thought whatever girl it was and Troy were suitable, the questions were how well I thought the girl and I would get along. If they didn't like basketball they were screwed in both my and Troy's eyes, and the musical thing was to see what kind of person she was. My guess was that little miss Whitney had never seen a musical in her life, instead she just watched the movie Phantom of the Opera...although that was a good movie. Of course this always gave Troy a good idea about how long the two would be dating. He'd never date someone that didn't get along with me one hundred percent (that was before at least).

Me and Troy had a special relationship at this point. We both had histories and secrets with each other that we didn't talk about...ever, but we were a lot closer than most of our friends thought. Most of the time I would go to Taylor or Shar if I had a problem, but there were certain types that I knew only Troy could help me with. We all play our parts in our little group.

In the distance I hear my phone blaring Sharpay's ring tone which effectively pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Hey Pay," I answered wondering what she could possibly want.

"Red or blue?"

Pulling away from the phone I give it an odd look before shaking my head and putting it back to my ears. See what I mean about Sharpay's bluntness? "Red or blue what?"

I could hear her sigh loudly on the other side of the line, "Red or blue dress silly! I'm buying your dress for tomorrow night!"

"Shar I thought I was just going to wear those blue jeans and shiny sliver top you had picked out?"

Yeah, tomorrow we are playing our first gig since the summer ended, and it was November. We were playing at the grand opening of THE NEON, which was a club that got burned down last year. It was the "it" club last year until it closed. The owner knows the Evans family personally so Shar pulled some strings and got us playing opening night. I have to admit I'm a little excited.

"I changed my mind. I can't having our lead singer looking...average."

You could literally hear the disdain dripping off her tone when she said the word average. Nothing was ever average or normal or plain or causal with Sharpay. She was bigger than life, and expected everything else to be the exact same way. You got used to it...or at least that is what we keep telling people.

"Fine, blue sounds good."

"Great! Actually I'll buy both and you can wear the red another day."

"Whatever you say Shar."

"Toodles!"

I hung up the phone without replying, because I knew it would be useless. She wouldn't be paying attention anyway. I just gave her free reign to buy clothes. Now that was all she was thinking about, guaranteed. That was the one thing none of us would ever admit to Sharpay: she was scarily predictable.

After I plugged up my phone to charge, because god knows what would happen if I let it die and she couldn't get in touch with me, I collapsed on the bed with a groan. It was then I hear a chuckle behind me and heard an oh to familiar voice, "rough day?"

"It shouldn't have been."

"Let me guess...Sharpay."

"Why can't she just leave things alone?" I ask snuggling up to the figure that has now sat himself beside me. Why were guys so naturally warm? It was like the drug that kept girls chasing after boys, I was sure, their warmth.

"Because she's Sharpay," he said stroking my hair, which I'm sure is gross considering I hadn't washed it today yet. I didn't really see the point. Tomorrow, Shar would put me through my paces so I looked perfect for the club opening. Seriouly, I wouldn't be surprised if she dragged me to the spa or something, and let me tell you now I don't do spas. If painted, my nails are 

black...because they just look weird in any other color. I hate people touching my feet, and as good with physical pain as I am...I don't do wax. Just the thought made me shiver.

"No shit," was my simple reply.

And then another entered my room, "You know Cross, if I didn't know better I'd say you were trying to steal my girlfriend."

My step brother, who I was currently laying on, rolled his eyes, "That's gross Evans. She's my sister."

Again I felt the need to roll my eyes and say "no shit."

The two laughed at me as Ryan climbed onto the other side of the bed, so I obligied and rolled over so I was snuggling up to him. "You smell like Sharpay."

"There's a compliment," Troy commented from the door, this time he was here without his new girlfriend. She must have gotten sick of being interrupted and went home. But like always, I felt the need to ask, "where's your girlfriend?"

This cause Jason and Ryan to look at Troy strangely. "Girlfriend?" they asked at the same time.

"She went back to her dorm to study, and yes girlfriend. You guys can meet her tomorrow at the gig," he said falling onto my bed by our feet which I used to my advantege...shoving my feet in his face. He didn't like that too much, and eventually started tickling my feet which caused me to whither and accidentally knock Jason off the bed with a BAM! Then it took all of five seconds before we heard someone coming up the stairs and down the hall to my room, and in walked Chad with his crazy afro and shirts with the stupid sayings. Today was 'I LOVE ME...DON'T YOU?'

"Taylor said you are being too loud," he commented without any passion really to his words. Knowing Chad, he was probably just glad to get away from his study crazed girlfriend which proved to be true when he collapsed in my red round chair, "And I thank you for being too loud."

We all chuckle at that and then we all groan at his next question, "what's for dinner?"

I look at him completely serious, "Chad, seriously, do you ever think about anything other than food?"

Really, I asked for it. I should have known better than to ask a guy with a hot girlfriend who I grew up with since I was five that question. I was the second one to know the day he lost his virginity...along with the entire Albuquerque mall. No, he just grinned at me like an idiot and said, "Of course I do, but I thought you didn't want to hear about me and Tay's sexual exploits Gabs."

That's when I smacked my forehead causing all the guys to laugh especially Troy. He laughed the loudest which drove me to shove him off the end of the bed. Yep, and there came Taylor marching, no stomping, up the stairs and bursting through my door, "Could you people please tune it down?!"

"It was Gabby!" the guys said simultaneously pointing at me.

All I could do was shrug and apologize, but it was half hearted and I'm pretty sure she knew it was half heart too. Although she didn't seem to care, or protest as Chad pulled her onto his lap. Instead she just kind of fell into his lap, and sighed. Yep, she was down for the count, "So what are you guys up to?"

"Talking about you had Chad's sexual exploits," Jason stated not thinking twice. Poor Chad…Taylor can hit really hard and you could hear that slap a mile away, and you could hear Chad complaining about being hit a mile away.

"Thanks a lot Jase," he mumbled rubbing where Tay slapped him.

I wouldn't have even noticed Kelsi coming in if she hadn't bumped into my dresser making it shake. "Hey Kels."

"Hey guys," she said in her light voice as she perched on her normal seat atop my desk. Now how does she fit on my desk you ask? Cause the only reason it's there is to hold my printer. I hate sitting at desks so I do my studying on my bed, so it makes a good sitting place for Kelsi.

"Um," Jason started making me look at him. He is never one to say um. Simply because he usually says things before he thinks about them, "Why don't you sit with us Kels? There's plenty of room on the bed."

Is Kelsi blushing? I'll defiantly have to check out that later. Kelsi on the other hand doesn't have time to answer before Sharpay comes barreling through the door loaded down with one too many shopping bags. You can barely see Zeke trailing behind her. "HERE YOU GUYS ARE!" she exclaimed a little too loudly dropping her bags on my already dirty floor.

"Wonderful deduction Pay," Troy commented sarcastically, completely ignoring the look Sharpay gave him. He really was the bravest one when it came to standing up to Sharpay, next was Taylor and then myself. The worst part was that Zeke was the last one to ever stand up to Sharpay. We think he just doesn't want to take the chance of losing the love of his life.

"So everything is set for tomorrow! And Gabby go to bed early because we have appointments to get our hair done at nine."

"Are you fuckin kidding me Pay? You know I don't do that kind of stuff," I complained sitting up off Ryan to look at her.

"Too bad, so sad," she said plopping down on the only other chair left, only after shoving Zeke into it first.

This really was a typical night for us. Just the nine of us all holed up in one room talking about what was our past, present, and future. We all knew our lives were different and weren't perfect, but what we could always count on was each other. That was the most important thing to us, or at least that was the most important thing to me anyway. We could all be dirt poor begging on the streets for money, I wouldn't care as long as we were together. It was a stupid unrealistic sentiment in the world we live in, but it was my sentiment so whatever.

"Gabby is going to look smoking hot in the new outfit I bought her," Sharpay's shrill voice brought me out of my thoughts.

There was nothing more important in Shar's mind than looking smoking hot, or acting smoking hot whatever. "Great just what I need."

"Shar! That's my girlfriend. I really don't want to spend all night fighting off all the guys," I hear Ryan's voice come from behind me. Turning my head I look up at him and smile, before leaning up and kissing him, only to get smacked by pillows being thrown at us.

Now, this is where I leave you. You know most of my thoughts and ideas, but here's the story. I hope you enjoy, and don't think I won't be popping in from time to time. Just sit back and enjoy.


	3. KRYPTONITE

If I go crazy then will you still call me

Superman if I'm alive and well, will

You be there holding my hand I'll

Keep you by my side with

My superhuman might  
Kryptonite

**KRYPTONITE –** 3 DOORS DOWN

**Chapter 2 : Kryptonite**

Gabriella groaned when she heard Sharpay's annoying cell phone going off. Leave it to her to not forget to set her alarm when they were all up until three in the morning talking in Gabby's room. At the present Gabby was half on top of Ryan with Troy snuggled up to her other side and Jason curled up in a ball on the end of her bed. Taylor and Chad were still cuddled up in one of the chairs, and Sharpay and Zeke were in the other. Kelsi was apparently the only one smart enough to go to her own bed when she noticed everyone was falling off to sleep. Gabriella knew that when midnight rolled around she should have kicked them out of her room like she had originally planned to do.

After numerous smacks from Sharpay, and Taylor reminding her that the quicker she gets up the less painful it'll be. Finally she pulled herself away from the warm comfort of her boys as she slipped into something that was Sharpay thought was worthy of being seen with. "Why am I doing this again?"

"So that you can have hundreds of boys drooling over you, and too get that protective side of my brother you like so much to come out."

Gabriella just rolled her eyes at this. She had learned over the years that arguing or trying to make a comeback was futile when it came to Sharpay. Plus, the blonde was more fun blunt anyway. She'd never forget the time Sharpay called one of Troy's exes a tight ass cunt wad because she called Sharpay a whore, good times, good times.

Sharpay was barely paying attention to Gabi anyway if she did protest. Instead she was dragging the brunette towards her pink convertible, a sixteenth birthday present, so they wouldn't be late for their hair appointment. She sped off singing at the top of her lungs not even noticing that Gabi was trying to go back to sleep in the passenger's seat. Gabi was jerked awake though when the blonde came to a screeching halt in front of a very upscale salon. That was a good thing about being friends (and more) with the Evans, you always got the best treatment.

"SHARPAY!" the two were greeted by an equally bubbly blonde who gave Sharpay air kisses, and the worst part for Gabriella was watching her return them. God, she was surrounded. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Gabriella, Marisol, and she needs a new look!" Sharpay exclaimed clapping her hands together. Gabriella groaned as she was forced to spin around so the stylists could get a "good look" at her. This was going to be a long day.

First she was sent off to get herself "waxed". She let them do her eyebrows and upperlip, but drew the line when they asked her to take off her sweat pants. Her legs and other things could be left to shaving. Why these people wanted to go through that kind of pain she would never understand, and truthfully didn't really care to either. Following that she spent the following two hours being pampered and given facial scrubs and all the other weird things that came with being in a day spa.

Finally she got to sit somewhere that she knew what was going to happen next, or at least she thought she did. After her hair being thoroughly shampooed and conditioned, she sat with all her hair piled atop her head waiting. Gabriella watched suspiciously through the mirror at Sharpay as she talked to the guy who would supposedly be doing her hair. He smiled and nodded at what Sharpay said, before spinning Gabi around so she couldn't see what he was doing.

But she could feel it.

"Shar?! Why is there more hair on the floor than what I have on my head?!"

Sharpay rolled her eyes as her stylist finished washing the bleach dye out of her hair, "now who is being over dramatic? You just need a new look Gabi. You had way to much hair to begin with, and shorter looks are in now."

"Sharpay Aphrodite Evans what the fuck do you mean shorter looks are in now?!" she screeched reaching up to feel what locks she had left. Her hair that used to reach her lower back now barely touched her shoulders. "What the fuck have you done?"

It was all too quickly that Gabriella was introduced to the new her. Her hair was defiantly different. The shortness brought out her natural curl even more, and it made her look much more…feminine. For the longest time she just sat there looking at what Sharpay had done to her hair. This wasn't her at all.

"It was time to turn over a new leaf."

That brought Gabriella out of her trance to look at her friend who was poofing up her own hair while looking in the mirror. Turning back, she looked at her new hairstyle once again. Maybe this wouldn't turn out so bad, but that was a big maybe. Being Gabriella the first thing to run through her mind was: what will the guys think?

The whole ride home she was fidgeting with her hair, twisting the ends. She was used to having it draped over her shoulder when she played with the ends, but now she had to reach up. Most people just thought that hair was just hair, but this was something that hadn't changed in ten years. That was another thing her mother had controlled in her life. There were so many things that she was beginning to see that she had control over them. It had taken two years for her to get the major priorities straight, to know they were what she truly wanted and not what her mother wanted for her. Even now there were things she was struggling to realize she had control over. The only thing her mother did for her that made her happy was when she was told to date Ryan.

When Sharpay's convertible pulled up into the driveway Gabriella immediately noticed something wasn't right. The guys were huddled around a car she didn't recognize, but there was someone missing. Ryan was no where to be seen and his car wasn't in the driveway either. That was odd. Usually the guys were all playing basketball or playing with their instruments or something.

The girls got out of the car and headed over towards where the car the guys were huddled around. Troy was the first once to glance back at the girls, but almost a split second later he did a double take, "GABRIELLA!"

This caused all the guys to turn around and look at her. She could feel the blush rising up in her cheeks as she fidgeted with her hair. Yanking her hand down she rolled her eyes, forcing the shy geeky girl away. "What? You guys look like you've never seen a girl with a hair cut."

"It's different."

That voice caused her attention to turn to the person who just climbed out of the driver's seat. Sharpay's decibel went up about four times with the "YOU BOUGHT A NEW CAR?!"

Ryan rolled his eyes as he walked around the car to lean on the passenger's side, "yeah so?"

"Humph," was all that was heard before the sound of her heels hitting against the pavement violently. The guys chuckled before returning to admire the car as Ryan pushed off it to wrap his arms around his girlfriend.

"I like your new hair for the record."

"And I like your new car….for the record."

Ryan smiled cheekily at her before leaning down to give her a sweet kiss. That's all she ever got when they were around people, a sweet kiss. Sometimes he'd hold her hand or wrap his arm around her waist, but that was it. She understood his desire to keep public displays of affection to a minimum, but sometimes she just wanted him to let go. The boy wouldn't even dance with her, and it got rather annoying because this girl loved to dance. Normally she would end up dancing with Troy or Chad, the only guys that would dance with her without her having to worry about Ryan getting jealous. It wasn't that Ryan was a naturally jealous person. He wasn't. He was the laid back one of the group, but she knew better. Over the years she had learned that Ryan was the exact opposite of his sister. Sharpay was the one to express her opinion no matter what people thought while Ryan suppressed everything he was feeling, the good and the bad and the ugly. It reminded her of her mother at times, but she knew that he'd never do to her what her mother had done to her. To take away a person's identity was the worst thing a person let alone a mother could do.

"GABRIELLA!"

Hearing Sharpay screech from her balcony, pulled Gabriella from her thoughts. She extracted herself from Ryan's arms with a semi sad look on her face. "I guess I better go get ready before Sharpay starts throwing my shit out the window trying to get me to come up there."

Ryan chuckles giving her one last gentle kiss, so gentle if she wasn't expecting it then she knew she would have missed it. Then he returns to the guys to continue admiring his car, and Gabriella turns to go inside the house ignoring Sharpay's ranting about them only have a couple hours left to get her ready. Everyone misses Troy's gaze as he watches the brunette retreat into the house, or at least he thinks everyone misses it.

Jason doesn't.

If anyone knew what Gabriella has been through it was Jason and Troy, but they knew what happened through two different sets of eyes. Jason watched as Gabriella lost control of who she was to her mother once her mother married his father. He watched as his step mother enjoyed running his step sister's life. Troy heard everything from Gabriella. He watched her inner struggle to make her mother proud because she was the only person who had been there for her. He comforted her when she felt like her life wasn't worth living. Now Jason begins to wonder, was there more to Troy's feelings about his step sister than what he thought?

Jason has always thought that Troy was the closest thing to a true friendship that Gabriella has. Sure they had their problems but a friendship like theirs was never easy. He had never questioned that before. Troy and Gabriella's friendship had been special that was obvious to everyone in their group, but there were never looks or touches or emotions that would suggest that there were lingering feelings else where. Now Jason wondered if he had just been so concentrated on Gabi that he missed the sign's coming from Troy or if theses feelings, these signs, were new.

He pushed all thoughts out of his head and concentrated on ogling over the car like the rest of the guys.

Meanwhile upstairs, Gabi was holding all the clothes that were being thrown at her. Since Sharpay had spent all day yesterday figuring out what Gabriella was going to wear she hadn't taken the time to figure out what she was going to wear. Gabi was trying not to roll her eyes at the fact over eighty percent of the clothes she was holding was pink.

"Ah ha!" Gabi was taken off guard at Shar's outburst and dropped all the clothes in her hands. The blonde waved her off when she went to pick them up off the floor. Gabriella watched as her friend held up a startling bright pink dress that would defiantly show off enough cleavage to have Zeke fighting off guys all night. The worst part was she knew that the blonde most likely picked that dress for that exact reason. It was like it was her way of testing Zeke's need to be with her which was stupid if you asked Gabi.

Sighing the brunette sat down on the blonde's pink and white bed spread, "can I go now?" Sharpay nodded no longer paying attention to Gabriella. Instead she was off in her own little world of thoughts.

Most people thought that Sharpay's actions were selfish and blunt, and truthfully most of them were, but there were times when Shar just wanted to get away and think for herself. She let people believe she wasn't a deep person because things were easier that way. People knew how she felt and how they felt about her. There was no need to complicate things. The only person who had ever seen even a glimmer of the person inside was Zeke, and he had only been allowed a glimmer. Sighing she pulled away from her reflection and started getting ready.

After checking on Taylor to see that she too was getting ready, Gabriella went back to her room and sat down on her bed with a sigh. She'd been sighing a lot these days. Things were different. Things were giving her a reason so sigh so much. She looked at her dress and shoes that Sharpay had laid out for her.

"I like your hair too."

Gabriella jumped up at the voice, and she came face to face with Troy Bolton. Immediately she reached up and played with the ends of her hair until he reached out and pulled her hand into his petting it softly. "I do too…it's just…"

"It was time for a change."

"But am I ready for that change?"

Troy sighed tucking her that strand of hair behind her ear before letting his fingers run down her cheek and jaw bone until he grasped her chin and made her look at him. "You've been ready for a while Brie."

She sighed nodding her head knowing it was true, but there were still these thought's running through her head. "You should go get ready Troy…I need to too, before Pay goes whoop ass on all of us."

Troy chuckles as he leaves her to her own devices. She shuts the door behind him leaning against it as she looks up to the ceiling thinking about what was really running through her and Troy's mind. He seemed to think she was strong enough, but she wasn't as sure as he seemed to be. There were parts of her that told her that keeping things the way they were would make her life much easier, and there were parts that told her she still wasn't completely her own person. In reality she knew that there was a part of her that her mother and her first step father took from her that she was never going to get back. Her life was destroyed because of that man. It had taken her so long to get back on her feet, and then she began to take her life back, but she was still working on that one. Pushing herself off the door she began to change into the red dress (Sharpay had decided red was a better color than blue). Standing in front of the mirror she looked as it hugged her every curve even with its baby doll style with a square neckline. It stopped about mid thigh, so she was going to have to remember to not bed down or squat while on stage. The black boots that were waiting for her were about three inch leather ankle boots. Gabi had to say she liked the boots. Something was missing though, going to her closet she found an old leather jacket that didn't come far past her chest. Now she looked like a lead singer.

Gabriella was apparently the last one ready because as she made her way down the stairs she noticed everyone was already waiting at the bottom. Shar stood out the most in her revealing hot pink dress as she hugged onto Zeke who was standing there in kaki's and a light pink polo that Sharpay had no doubtedly had picked out. He also had that obnoxiously in love smile on his face as he looked down at Shar who was laughing at something Chad had just said. Chad was in his usual "rocker" attire which for him meant a pair of basketball shorts and a tee shirt with another saying on it. It seemed like that was all he owned. This time is said 'I'M THE BOSS IN THE BEDROOM'. She figured Taylor had already made him pay for that one as she looked like he was holding her too him in her white and blue dress that was fitted at the top and empire wasted out right under her chest. Jason was in a pair of jeans and three random colored wife beaters. Kelsi was sitting on the table in her skinny jeans and a long yellow baby doll tee with fitted sleeves. Gabi also didn't miss Jason glancing at Kelsi without anyone else noticing. Ryan was sitting there leaning against the door with a pair of jeans on and a polo much like Zeke's except his was green and he was wearing a matching hat. That was the only thing about Ryan she never got, those weird hats.

But the vision of the group she was sure of was Troy. There he was messing with his cell phone while his dark brown almost black hair fell into his eyes. The muscle tee he was wearing was a blue that brought out the blue in his eyes even more, and the black leather pants he was wearing perfectly defined his leg muscles and the natural bulge from the pants fitting like a second skin. He was a god, and everyone knew it…especially himself and Gabi.

"Let's rock!" she exclaimed as she finished coming down the stairs. They were used to seeing her in this kind of attire but she always got the same two reactions from Jason and from Ryan.

"Go change…NOW!" was all she got from Jason and from Ryan she heard him whisper in her ear "God, I am the luckiest guy in the world."

Today was no different as she pushed them out the door, except when Troy passed her on his way out he leaned over to whisper something in her ear, "I told you change was good, but damn."

Gabriella giggled as she rolled her eyes and pushed him out the door following him to the limo Sharpay had rented for the night. This was going to be an interesting night. If she only knew, oh if she only knew what tonight was the start of.

**Note: hope you like it! it's half filter half informative, next will be the concert and I promise that some interesting stuff will happen! Please review because I'm not sure if you guys want to continue this story. Look, I'll even be nice and give you a little preview of the next chapter: **

"Ryan dance with me please!" Gabi begged pulling his hand trying to get him to the dance floor, but he wouldn't budge.

"You know how I feel about dancing like that Gabriella."

That hurt. None of them ever called her Gabriella unless they were pissed at her. All she wanted to do was dance with her boyfriend. Instead she gets pushed away as he made his way over to the bar. "Please!" she called out after him, but he didn't even look back. Instead he waved her off like Sharpay did so many times before. Why was he being such an ass?!

Gabriella sighed as she sat down at their table watching as all her friends danced with their dates, or in Kelsi and Jason's case their crushes. She was the one who loved to dance the most yet here she was sitting like a good little girl while her boyfriend got a drink. That was when someone came up behind her and taped her on the shoulder. Turning she came face to face with a boy with shaggy dirty blonde hair and a pair of stunning green eyes.

"May I have this dance?"

Gabi glanced at Ryan who was busy barking at the bartender what he wanted to drink. Making up her mind then and there she got up off her chair and took his hand dragging him onto the dance floor, "Let's dance."


End file.
